For Asuma
by Icy Rundas
Summary: Shikamaru and Narina come to terms with the death of their sensei. They say all wounds heal in time. Will these? Some ShikamaruXOC


"No…I'll do it. I have a message for Kurenai from Asuma. And Narina…I need to be the one to tell her…"

"Shikamaru! You're back! How did it go? You're okay, aren't you?" I stared at my silver-haired teammate, lying in her hospital bed. She struggled to climb out of the bed and when she did, she tried to stagger over to me. I set my hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her back down on the hospital bed. I needed her to be sitting down for this. She stared up at me with those damned innocent eyes of hers and I sat on the bed next to her.

"What's wrong, Shikamaru? You didn't get hurt, did you? You took those Akatsuki members down, right? And-"

"Narina." She stopped talking.

"W-What? What happened?" I couldn't look her in the eye. It would be too hard for the both of us.

"Narina…Asuma-sensei…he's…" I didn't even have to say it; I don't know if I even would have been able to. The corners of her eyes started to flood with tears.

"A-Asuma-sensei is d-dead?" I nodded sullenly and the dam in her eyes burst open and she flung herself into my arms. I don't know how long she cried, and I don't know how long I held her.

"Narina, the funeral is tomorrow." She slowly pulled away, eyes red and puffy from crying so much.

"O-Okay…you're going to be there, right? I…I have to be there for Konohamaru…"

"Yeah…I'll be there…"

I left the funeral early, right after everyone got there. I kissed Narina on the top of her head and squeezed her arm so she knew I wasn't deserting her. When I left, Konohamaru was crying into Narina's skirt and she was hugging him for all she was worth. I went home, and stared into the nothing for how long, I don't know. When my mother came and told me it was time for dinner, I told her I didn't want to eat. My father came a while later, when it was dark out. We talked and…he told me to stop keeping my emotions bottled up. When he left, I cried. I screamed and cried until my eyes had run out of tears and my voice was hoarse.

I came up with a plan. I was going to get Choji and Ino, and we were going to leave when it was still dark. We were going to find those Akatsuki bastards and we were going to take them out. For Asuma…

We were stopped by Tsunade. She told us we were being stupid and that we were going to get ourselves killed. Narina came out of the shadows, holding her side. She said that she was going with us, and we wouldn't be able to stop her. Tsunade refused to let us go until Kakashi came out of hiding and said he would lead us. Tsunade agreed to let us go, but she tried to stop Narina. Narina pushed her hand away and stood by my side.

"Lady Hokage…I have to do this. I need to do this. If you try and stop me, I will fight you." Tsunade sighed heavily, but allowed the silver-haired girl to join us.

I was sitting in my hospital bed, bored as hell, when Shikamaru walked in. My eyes lit up.

"Shikamaru! You're back! How did it go? You're okay, aren't you?" He just stared at me. I tried to get up out of the bed and go over to him. He put his hand on my shoulder and pushed me back down. I stared up at him, very confused. He sat down heavily next to me.

"What's wrong, Shikamaru? You didn't get hurt, did you? You took those Akatsuki members down, right? And-"

"Narina," he cut me off. Now I knew that something had happened.

"W-What? What happened?" He wouldn't look me in the eye.

"Narina…Asuma-sensei…he's…" It felt like my heart shattered into a million pieces. I felt the corners of eyes start to well up with tears.

"A-Asuma-sensei is d-dead?" He nodded, like he wasn't able to say it out loud. I wasn't able to stop myself from crying. I sniffed and threw myself into his arms. I cried for a long time, until I wasn't able to any more. He just held me until I stopped.

"Narina, the funeral is tomorrow." I pulled away from his embrace and wiped my eyes on my gown sleeve. My eyes stung and I knew that I must have looked horrible.

"O-Okay…you're going to be there, right? I…I have to be there for Konohamaru…" Konohamaru was Asuma-sensei's nephew, and the boy didn't have much family left.

"Yeah…I'll be there."

Shikamaru left the funeral early and I understood why. Before he left, he squeezed my arm and kissed the top of my head. I stood next to Konohamaru, who was crying into my skirt. This scene felt so much like the Third's funeral, it was crazy. Kurenai-sensei was the last to put flowers on Asuma-sensei's grave. I refused to cry when there were so many people around. Instead, I hugged Konohamaru as hard as I could, trying to tell him, and myself, that it was going to be okay.

When I went back to the hospital, I went up on the roof and stared into the nothing for what seemed like forever. I don't know how many nurses came to tell me that I should come back inside. I just ignored them. I wondered how Choji and Ino were doing, and I wondered how Shikamaru was doing. Lady Tsunade paid me a visit on the roof. She took one look at me and frowned.

"You should be inside. You're still weak." I glanced at her, and then went back to staring into the nothing. She heaved a sigh and sat down next to me.

"Listen. I know how close you were to him. It hurts, doesn't it?" I nodded silently.

"You didn't cry at the funeral. Why?" I mumbled something into my arms.

"What was that? I didn't hear you." I pulled my face away from my arms and looked at her.

"I had to be strong for Konohamaru…I had to show him that it would be all right…"

"You're still not crying. I can tell you're holding it back. Stop being so surly…you're only going to hurt yourself." I shook my head.

"I don't want to cry any more…it hurts too much. I have to be strong…for Ino and Choji and Konohamaru and Shikamaru…" The blonde put her hand on my shoulder.

"They're handling this better than you are, Narina. You need to let your emotions out, or they'll explode on someone you care about." I looked up at her. My reserve broke.

"Lady Hokage…it's just…I've always been alone. Broken. Asuma-sensei was the first person to pick up my pieces and put them back together. He was like…my father. I…don't know how I'm going to take care of myself now that he's…gone." She stood up.

"You have more friends than you know, Narina. You don't have to worry about that." She turned and started to walk away. Before she went into the open window, she stopped.

"You know…it helps to cry. Trust me." Then she was gone. I stared at the sky for a few seconds. Then I closed my eyes and started to tear up again. Soon enough, they were streaming down my face. I opened my eyes and screamed his name into the heavens as loud as I could.

I knew that as soon as Shikamaru got his act together, he and the others would try to pull something. So, I waited by the gates. If they were leaving to avenge Asuma-sensei, I was going to go with them, and there wasn't going to be any way that they were going to stop me. Lady Hokage had the same notion that they would try something, as did Kakashi-sensei. She told Shikamaru that he was being stupid. He argued that they had a plan. Kakashi-sensei volunteered to take charge of them. I wanted to go. When Tsunade tried to stop me, I told her that needed to go. I told her that if she tried to stop me, I would fight her. She let me go, but made me promise to be careful. I told her I was going to do whatever it took to avenge him. Whatever it took. For Asuma…


End file.
